Wednesday, May 31, 2017

(Claire Bernish) “Terrorists don’t hate us for our freedom,” the former NSA contractor
asserted, “they don’t even know what our freedoms are... Terrorists are
incapable of destroying our rights or diminishing our society they lack
the strength — only we can do that.” - Edward Snowden

Whistleblower
Edward Snowden does not mince words, and his ardent assessment of our
perpetually-dwindling rights in the United States and around the world —
offered live in a teleconference Tuesday — certainly didn’t break that
mold.

“Government will not act in accordance with the public interest unless it is made to,” Snowden contended, beginning what would arguably be one of the most powerful public appearances since he blew the whistle and the U.S.’ Intelligence Community’s expansive surveillance programs in 2013.

“You may never be safe in any country — whether it’s Brussels, or Russia, or Portugal, or the United States — to speak a necessary, but inconvenient, truth,” he continued, addressing the erosion of free speech, and a lack of justice for those who exercise that right.

For instance, “the United Kingdom passed the … most extreme surveillance law in the history of the Western World last year — it’s called the Investigatory Powers Bill. It authorizes objectively obscene intrusions into the public’s ability to communicate, to interact, to relate to one another, to engage in industry, to trade — without interference — so long as they’re not doing anything wrong.

Snowden stressed that nation-states invariably target the most extreme speech in platforms such as social media — posts by literal terrorists, child abuse, and other “things that are unobjectively contentious” — but the purview of governmental censorship and surveillance extends far beyond such broadly objectionable items.

However, “there is no public evidence showing that these policies are effective; that they save lives; that they make us safer.

“But there is clear evidence that they cause harm to the public. We have seen people fall on blacklists. We have seen, again and again throughout history, political parties be hamstrung, to face resistance, to be silenced by governments — because of their politics, because of their beliefs, because of their ideologies — which, over time, are always derived from what state security agencies say is a necessary effort to protect the nation.

“I’m not going to so far to say this is sort of an evil plan on behalf of the United Kingdom or any other nation, but we need to focus on one thing, the need for speech, access to free speech, free association, a free press, the ability to pick up a phone and be able to dial someone that you love without worrying about what that looks like in government database somewhere — how that will be reviewed ten years from now, when you get on a politician’s bad side.

“Arguing that you don’t care about free speech, because you have nothing to hide; arguing that you don’t care about the censorship of the Internet, because you’re not a criminal … is like arguing you don’t care about freedom of speech, because you have nothing to say.”

Delving into the crucial topic of how we, as a people, can work to thwart abusive overreach by governments — including imperious censorship by a State surreptitiously working to quash dissension, Snowden asserted,

“We need the right of disagreeing. We need the right of dissent. And that means, ladies and gentlemen, we need the right to speak out — even if it’s objectionable. Even if it’s offensive. Even if it’s problematic.

“The way to defeat bad ideas, the way to discredit terrorist ideas, is not by driving them into the shadows. It’s not by censoring them from public spaces.”

Prohibiting such cadres of dangerous thought from seeing the light of day, in effect, creates an echo chamber, hidden from criticism, thus, amplifying perilous ideas — without challenge.

Such censorship and suppression isn’t necessary, Snowden continued, because “these ideas are not attractive; these ideas grow best in the dark.

“If you want to defeat terrorism, if you want to cast down radicalism, don’t hide it in the dark — drag it out into the light. And on the stage of the world, show people why it’s wrong. And why we can do better.”

“Terrorists don’t hate us for our freedom,” the former NSA contractor asserted, “they don’t even know what our freedoms are… Terrorists are incapable of destroying our rights or diminishing our society they lack the strength — only we can do that.”

Lambasted as a traitor to the United States by some and hailed as a hero defender of human rights and constitutional protections by others, Snowden dismissed this dichotomous criticism as entirely moot, stating,

“I say, it doesn’t matter what you think of me as a person. It doesn’t matter if you think I’m the best person in the world, it doesn’t matter if you think I’m the worst person in the world — the facts are the facts, regardless. They are discoverable. And — more import than what people think about me or my reputation — is what you think about what’s going on in the world. What you’re going to do about it. Do you have the capability to influence power, to change the world in a positive direction.”

Changing the world for the better, Snowden told the predominantly German audience attending the Estoril teleconference, begins and ends with all of us — and the imperative of vigilance against encroachment by government on all our rights.

“Rights are lost by cowardly laws that are passed in moments of panic,” he said. “Rights are lost to the cringing complicity of leaders who fear the loss of their office more than the loss of our liberties.”

“It’s not enough to believe that something’s wrong,” Snowden attested. “It’s not enough to disagree with it. It’s not enough to think that things could be better.

“You have to stand for something. You have to go out there and risk something. You have to dare yourself to actually get out there and change the world — even if in a small way, even if only for one person, even if for only one instant, you lay down a brick upon which everyone else can build.”

“That, ladies and gentlemen,” Snowden concluded, “is the only way the world has ever gotten better.”

About The AuthorClaire BernishClaire Bernish began writing as an independent, investigative journalist in 2015, with works published and republished around the world. Not one to hold back, Claire’s particular areas of interest include U.S. foreign policy, analysis of international affairs, and everything pertaining to transparency and thwarting censorship. To keep up with the latest uncensored news, follow her on Facebook or Twitter: @Subversive_Pen.
_________________________Stillness in the Storm Editor's note: Did you find a spelling error or grammar mistake? Do you think this article needs a correction or update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at sitsshow@gmail.com with the error, headline and url. Thank you for reading.

Question -- What is the goal of this website? Why do we share different sources of information that sometimes conflicts or might even be considered disinformation?

Answer -- The primary goal of Stillness in the Storm is to help all people become better truth-seekers in a real-time boots-on-the-ground fashion. This is for the purpose of learning to think critically, discovering the truth from within—not just believing things blindly because it came from an "authority" or credible source. Instead of telling you what the truth is, we share information from many sources so that you can discern it for yourself. We focus on teaching you the tools to become your own authority on the truth, gaining self-mastery, sovereignty, and freedom in the process. We want each of you to become your own leaders and masters of personal discernment, and as such, all information should be vetted, analyzed and discerned at a personal level. We also encourage you to discuss your thoughts in the comments section of this site to engage in a group discernment process.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." – Aristotle

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Stillness in the Storm, the authors who contribute to it, or those who follow it.

View and Share our Images. Curious about Stillness in the Storm? See our About this blog - Contact Us page.If it was not for the gallant support of readers, we could not devote so much energy into continuing this blog. We greatly appreciate any support you provide!

We hope you benefit from this not-for-profit site

It takes hours of work every day to maintain, write, edit, research, illustrate and publish this blog.We have been greatly empowered by our search for the truth, and the work of other researchers. We hope our efforts

to give back, with this website, helps others in gaining

knowledge, liberation and empowerment.

"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth;

not going all the way, and not starting." — Buddha

If you find our work of value, consider making a Contribution.This website is supported by readers like you.

No comments
:

Post a Comment

SITS blog is a venue where Data we come across can be shared with all of you. If we look past personal bias, and distill the Absolute Data within each post, our natural intuition will assemble these nuggets together and reveal a greater truth.

We do not know what that truth is yet of course. We are discovering that together as a whole by sharing and discussing our unique perspective. Share your thoughts and we will all come to a greater understanding as one.

The Galactic Mantra

Fair Use of Information for ALL

All data is freely available to the ALL, as an inherent inalienable right of consciousness and existence, for the use of any being in creation who seek to know and use it in sacred trust with the Creator. No Claim of Ownership is made by SITS, for any data presented on this page or elsewhere.

Any information, writing, photographs, videos or content on this page is freely available to ALL without claim of Intellectual Ownership. We advise providing attribution to this website (Stillness in the Storm) when, and if, data herein presented is used elsewhere; so as to remain honest, transparent and to maintain the public trust as to where the information was found.

Any and All data herein presented has been re-claimed for the collective benefit of all sentient life from any and all parties who seek to limit its dissemination for personal gain only. Any claims of intellectual ownership or copyright, that were once ascribed to content on this page, held in inperfect trust and dishonor, or elsewhere, is NULL and VOID; as a result of a misrepresentation of right of ownership and breach of trust by any party whom presumes to claim title and exclusive right of use without also making available such information to those honorable parties who lawfully petition to use it.

No requests, threats, or notices that seek to limit the sharing information for the benefit of ALL will be honored. However, a humble request to provide information in a certain way or form will be considered, up to and including, the partial removal of data, and only as an agreement between two or more honorable parties whom fully disclose and honor a moral duty to the truth.

FAIR USE NOTICE:

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, and so on. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

In this respect we are in accordance with the statutes as well as Natural Law. ﻿

All Rights Reserved in Sacred Trust under the One True Divine Creator.

SITS is a humble agent of the One Infinite, Divine, and Absolute Creator, in service of the Truth and the ALL beings.

All data is freely available to the ALL. No Claim of Ownership is made hereon. Powered by Blogger.